Board 8 > ok i looked at the store pages for the demos in steam next fest

(+) Yeah! (+)

i noted down everything that caught my eye and wrote words with them for some reason so other people that aren't me can consider checking them out (there's a lot more than i can actually install right now lol)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/757310/Sable/ (i assume anyone that watched the sgf kickoff live remembers this one still anyway it seemed pretty cool)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/821880/Idol_Manager/ (idol trash. (mercifully, it's not just english voice acting now))
https://store.steampowered.com/app/941460/Death_Trash/ (gritty post-apocalyptic cyberpunk top-down action rpg. probably like fallout but more pixelated)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/986520/Ultra_Strangeness/ (latest surreal claymation game from Michael Rfdshir. Also very Hylics-esque.)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1035760/Glimmer_in_Mirror/ (quite a pretty metroidvania)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1094450/Spies__Soldiers/ (barebones but solid grand strategy game)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1106830/Rainbow_Billy_The_Curse_of_the_Leviathan/ (paper mario color splash for gamers that refuse to try paper mario color splash)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1123050/GRIME/ (that game from one of the e3 conferences with an impossibly obtuse trailer with no meaning. apparently actually a metroidvania)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1151050/Golf_Gang/ (okay it's basically just golf with your friends but it's still pretty cool. good soundtrack. golf gang represent)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1235450/Treasure_Drifter_Nian/ (pixel-based escort mission game. looks better than that description sounds)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1238450/Interference/ (reverse (hopefully) fnaf where you play as some security guard outside the building having to save people trapped inside... or just not. pretty sure i heard about this before at some point...)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1248840/Sephonie/ (3d platformer. latest game from the anodyne dev(s))
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1250900/Project_Beril/ (experimental shmup from the circle behind barrage musical with touch based movement and also AI-controlled movement)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1269710/Kainga/ ((apparently) challenging city building game where a lot of events can just ruin everything)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1281490/The_Night_is_Grey/ (survival dadgame. looks great)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1289990/Alans_Automaton_Workshop/ (programming with alan turing)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1299860/Endlight/ (aesthetically overwhelming rail non-shooter with a ton of custom-seeded procedurally generated levels)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1307580/TOEM/ (comfy top down adventure game BUT WITH PHOTO MODE)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1322300/Tsugunohi/ (a mobile-based horror game with a big legacy, now on pc and in english)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1331210/Wolfstride/ (1v1 turn-based mech battler. basically, front mission arena battles if they looked like teleroboxer in a megalobox art style)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1338030/_Entertainment_Simulator/ (be the media)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1351630/Ys_IX_Monstrum_Nox/ (it's ys ix, and it has a steam demo now)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1366200/Rog__Roll/ (solid-looking 2.5d pixel platformer. kirby-esque but has some nice mechanics of its own)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1366840/Moon_Farming/ (farming simulator 2121)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1368410/PSYCRON/ (metroidvania. clearly leans in hard on the metroid half. also seems to take additional cues from esa and axiom verge)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1410640/Syberia_The_World_Before/ (new syberia game. microids couldn't be trusted with the XIII remake but maybe this is more in their comfort zone)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1414400/Unnatural_Disaster/ (heck up cities)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1421790/Labyrinth_City_Pierre_the_Maze_Detective/ (adventure game in a hidden object world. based on a real series that isn't where's wally/waldo)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1439040/Squingle/ (super trippy vr game)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1448760/The_Plane_Effect/ (a game about trying to return home, at all costs. trailer music hits hard)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1444980/Playhear__Square_Paper_City/ (artgame)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1451970/SATORI/ a (first-person) free running game in a zen world
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1466580/Tempus_Bound/ (pixel a r t)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1505310/Risu/ (ps1 clock tower-looking game, albeit less blocky and more atmospheric)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1523670/Eggy/ (a getting over it clone merged with bubsy)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1528030/Imagined_Leviathans/ (artsy survival game set in a very cold postapocalyptic britain)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1530800/Frank_and_Drake/ (rotoscoped adventure game with contemporary takes on frankenstein and dracula as roommates)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1532360/Joyspring/ (kind of like jump king but with more controls)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1538850/Grotto/ (deermen. cool art)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1543430/Terrain_of_Magical_Expertise/ (i'm extremely disappointed it doesn't actually have mmbn gameplay and also isn't an mmo)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1545990/Deadeye_Deepfake_Simulacrum/ (twin stick shooter where you hack everything to win.)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1556870/Golf_Club_Wasteland/ (someone seriously looked at golfing over it and thought "this is a good concept to make a seriou

Awesome, posting to come back later and check some of these out

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oops i was mistaken, tsugunohi was primarily a browser game before now (i played on smartphone though)

We have very different taste in games

I've played these so far:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1493260/Spiritle/
Tactical board game - Very pretty 2D art (Animal-themed, like Armello) but I found it unintuitive and not fun.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1561660/The_Lightbringer/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1569150/Glyph/
Both 3D platformers with similar graphical styles. Both very simple, but fun. Would play the full games.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1569150/Glyph/
OG Resident Evil / Silent Hill inspired. ( for @Snake5555555555 maybe?) Captures the style really though with some awkward design choices, will certainly play the real game when it releases

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1119980/In_Sound_Mind/
More horror, but more the modern first-person kind. Mostly exploration/atmosphere in the demo, not heavy action. Would buy.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1356280/Kitaria_Fables/
I don't play the genre much but I think this is like Recettear, or those other games that combine gathering/farming with simple dungeon crawling. Seems pretty good.

whops i forgot to include lightbringer and glyph (i was going to)
actually i could've sworn i even had a writeup for glyph before, no idea where that went. probably for the best that i wasn't the first to post it though since i remember i was going to say "what if metroid could fly? what if marble blast could platforms"

also accidentally didn't include these too
https://store.steampowered.com/app/651490/No_Longer_Home/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/777670/Okinawa_Rush/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/956140/Lifeslide/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1079830/Cris_Tales/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1311070/Greak_Memories_of_Azur/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1431170/Pepo/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1463780/Mohism_Battle_of_Words/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1537480/_/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1543030/_/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1574780/Skaramazuzu/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1594940/Little_Witch_in_the_Woods/

Ooh yeah that's definitely on my list to check out!

I'll throw a few of my recs in the ring too:

Norco
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1221250/NORCO/
(Southern Gothic/Sci-fi point & click, gorgeous pixel art and dark atmosphere with a healthy dose of humor, perfect for fans of classic adventure games or those looking for a new Kentucky Route Zero like fix)

White Shadows
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1158890/White_Shadows/
(Black-and-White horror platformer with vibes of Limbo, Inside, Little Nightmares, beautiful sound design and intriguing world)

Severed Steel
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1227690/Severed_Steel/
(Balls-to-the-wall action FPS, you can do some crazy shit in this one, like a more fast-paced Superhot)

Chasing Static
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1319420/Chasing_Static/
(First-person horror with a retro aesthetic, focus on slow paced mystery and exploration)

And here's some I haven't played yet but they caught my attention:
Dagon
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1481400 (VN based on the Lovecraft story)

Haru
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1581470/HARU/ (Not really a fan of the graphical style but the gameplay has an interesting hook)

Road 96
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1466640/Road_96/ (cause Road Trip games are cool)

---

dang i didn't even notice that severed steel was there. digging the look of norco too

a few more games (that i also haven't tried yet and probably won't at this rate) that i also forgot to mention the first time

https://store.steampowered.com/app/662340 renaine
https://store.steampowered.com/app/726980 cyber warrior
https://store.steampowered.com/app/969760 omno
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1118240 lake
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1124180 rail route
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1135690 unpacking
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1136370 bear and breakfast
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1161170 the rewinder
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1203710 unmetal
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1205170 super magbot
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1260520 patrick's parabox
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1333470 alex kidd in miracle world dx
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1389360 mech armada
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1395760 reshaping mars
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1399700 kapital
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1508000 venice 2089
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1511460 infraspace
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1588380 blaster master zero 3

anyway regarding stuff i have now tried so far
Great:
Norco

don't really need to talk about this one but i really liked norco. future point and click masterpiece, probably

Good:
Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum

liked this a lot too, though it's also pretty difficult

Okay:
Sable
Sephonie
Labyrinth City
Project Beril
Endlight

sable seems pretty great but also there are a lot of bugs. there are many ways to softlock it and the text is broken are my two main takeaways from playing (and not yet finishing) the demo. Should be great by the time most of that is ironed out

sephonie is as hit or miss as one would probably expect of the anodyne dev in his most action-oriented game to date. the mechanics are poor, the art is poor (both intentionally and unintentionally) and the game is also rather poor...ly balanced with extreme difficulty spikes for some of the side content in the single room primarily showcased in the demo alone. on the other hand, the writing is brilliantly weird, the gameplay for interacting with... creatures is a step up from prior games (anodyne 2) and the optional side content is actually very satisfying to clear, even if i feel like it perhaps got too difficult with the controls in their current state

liked the charm of labyrinth city but not super big on the controls (it's also got mobile versions in development, and well, it shows). with the way the pathways wind, i suppose it was always going to be difficult to get the controls right but it still would've been nice to be able to use arrow keys. still interested in getting it on switch at least. also, narration isn't perfect and it would've been nice to be able to try other languages (there's at least a french one too but it can only be used with french subtitles...). also wish more things had more interesting interactions, like you can go and open a lot of windows and stuff but a lot of them don't really do anything... but there's so much happening in it anyway it's not a big deal

i get what they meant by project beril being like a strategy game now. the game's all about routing your cpu-controlled player so it is theoretically possible for them to survive what's being thrown at them. naturally, with the cpu being that good at dodging the patterns aren't exactly a walk in the park, which makes this pretty hard to get a hang of (thanks to the limited agency you have compared to the cpu). arguably a good educational tool, much like their actual danmaku tutorial game.

endlight is certainly an experience worth playing... once, and probably only once. unless it's $2 or less i doubt i'd buy it seeing as it's really that many minutes worth of content. it really is cool though.

Eh:
Wolfstride
The Owl and the Lighthouse

wolfstride would benefit from just having the story ripped out and just having like, a purely menu-based arcade battle system instead. the writing's pretty awful and there's pretty much no effort put into anything outside of the fights

i couldn't work out how to get all of the materials needed to make more wood carvings in the owl game which was a shame (since the game seems to be oriented around them...). also felt pretty mobile game-y. i peeked into the files and noticed there seems to be a lot of content and also english translated text planned so i might give it another shot eventually

Nah:
Sophia the Traveler
Golf Club Wasteland

sophia is less polished than most flash games. the lack of effort put into this really shows. most memorable part is a dancing... monkey, i think it was, that says "All the gay!" in a half-enthusiastic voice when you click on him. also i couldn't find the damn suitcase

i didn't realise golf club wasteland was port of an existing mobile game... also, the courses are awful, the "Radio from Mars" takes like 5 minutes before it loops and it's really bad in general, and sadly you don't get to control your golfer when moving to the next shot, even though you still have to wait for them to manually get there from off-screen

(also pretend i didn't accidentally copy the link below patrick's parabox before)

Some others I tried now, all deckbuilders or platformers:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1332090/Void_Tyrant/
Roguelike deckbuilder. It's, like, alright. I can't say I'd go out of my way to play it but it wasn't bad.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1069690/Rogue_Lords/
Not deckbuilder, but similar, but party of 3 and you collect random skills rather than cards. But otherwise has Slay the Spire mechanics. The gimmick being you can spend your life points as a resource, literally, to deal damage, modify buffs, teleport on the map, heal yourself, untap skills, etc. This one's more compelling, I'll probably buy the real thing.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1461960/Baby_Goat_Billy/
More roguelike deckbuilder, except it's... not very good. Very strange design decisions, notably cards don't tell you what they do, and you can only play 1 card per turn?????? No matter what. But cute goat and it's neat how they made a grid-based movement system. Not polished at all, doesn't feel professional. But I like the spirit of it!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/541310/Tiny_Thor/
Super polished 2d platformer, very satisfying to control. Levels so far didn't really stand out as super exciting but it plays well and jumping/attacking is very satisfying, good physics.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1205170/Super_Magbot/
2d platformer where the gimmick is "no jumping" but it's kind of misleading because you have magnets so you just stand on top of a red platform and aim your red magnet at it, which is not a "jump" but does propel you away. Aim your red at a blue ceiling to swing from it, etc. I can't play this, I'm not good at platformers that require aiming with your mouse, and keeping track of which button is red magnet or blue magnet is too much for my brain. Seems good though for those who can handle that.